The Blue Werewolf
by Kenjaje
Summary: All Hallows Eve draws ever near, and Stitch is encountering strange feelings at night after being bitten by a strange creature. Though no one wil believe him, he believes it was a werewolf. Will they find out...in time?
1. True Encounters With Werewolves

A tribute to the night of nights;

All Hallows Eve

Read with caution...

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 1: "True Encounters With Werewolves"

--October 28; 8:11 PM; The Tower

"...The boy scouts bid their goodnights, and took to their tents after the fire watch doused the bonfire until no smoke arose." Lilo read aloud, her eyes darting across the page, barely able to read the letters that blurred and slanted with her reading motion. Her voice was low as she spoke the words she read, and the flashlight that she had placed behind her on a holder flickered every now and then.

"A cold wind blew that October night, and ruffled the canvases of the campsite's shelters. Though by now, all the boys were fast asleep; some still jarred by the stories just told around the campfire." Stitch felt a quiver of fear course down his spine every once in a while. Lilo paused and took a quavering breath in as she turned the page, and continued reading in the dark; Stitch listening to every word and seeing what was described happening in his mind's eye.

"Tim stirred in his sleeping bag as the wind rattled the zipper of his tent. He never woke to minor things, and so he thought that something else aroused him. _'Maybe it was Sam.'_ He thought, glancing over to his tent mate. An eerie feeling overcame him as the wind seemed to roar past his tent; the noise was loud and irritatingly creepy, like something outside was trying to force its way in.

"Tim shrugged the feeling and hastily ducked back into his bag, pulling the end over his head and zipping it tight, covering his mouth so that he exhaled warm breath which kept him calm. He heard his tent mate shift in his bag, and at first Tim jumped to fear, but then quickly convinced himself that he should calm down.

"He tried his hardest to sleep with the wind roaring the tent and brushing the side of the canvas against his sleeping bag. The noise seemed to pass through the stuffing between his ear and the outside world as if it wasn't there. He opened his eyes to try and see something, hoping that some light was outside. Sadly, there was none, and only a dull darkness floated into his vision.

"Tim couldn't sleep, that was obvious to him now. For some reason he'd woken up, and now that he was awake, he was too excited to get back to sleep. He checked his watch, only an hour or so had passed since he dozed off. Then, however, he was awake with others; now he was the only one active, and it felt oddly silent outside, despite the wind.

"Another minute or so passed, and Tim decided—if nothing else—to exert his bladder. _'Nothing's out there,' _he told himself, _'you're completely safe. None of those stories are true...even if Duncan said they were...'_ His thoughts convinced him enough to disregard his anxiousness and crawl out of his sleeping bag.

"The night air was freezing on his upper body, the hairs on his back stood on end as he sat up to put on a shirt. He regretted not listening to the scoutmaster's advice about putting on a full set of clothes to keep warm. His body refused to move the air was so cold. He sat and waited for a moment, sill hesitating his journey outside. Deciding whether or not to go, whether or not it was worth it, whether or not something would happen to him.

"Finally his bladder gave the decision; and he moved his legs to the outside air and put socks on to warm up his feet. Only stopping momentarily, he then attempted to search for his shoes. His breath shuddered with chilling air as he searched, sighing with scorn, as he was not able to find them. He then remembered where his flashlight was; in the little mesh bag to his right. He reached in and pulled it out—a tiny, red MAGlight.

"Twisting the cap, it turned on and blazed a flood of light at the roof of the tent, shining dully on the fabric, but almost unbearably bright to Tim's eyes. He pointed it down as quick as he could, to try and get used to the brightness; a burn of light remained on his retina from where the brightness once was, streaked down, and then slowly dissolved to a blue-blackish line, then disappeared.

"As soon as his eyes adjusted, he scanned the tent more thoroughly, and found his shoes pitted against his tent mate's in the center of their sleeping bags, a bit down near where his knees were. He hadn't moved much to get dressed, minimal movement conserved heat better, and right now the air was numbing him. With the light he also found his jacket, and dawned it as well.

"With a final loop of his bootlace, Tim shifted his position and opened the tent door with the loud run of the zipper. It seemed comforting to hear a noise other than the wind and his tent mate's stirs...and at the same time it seemed like a bad thing; if something was out there, they heard him. He quickly banished that thought from his mind, and replaced it with common politeness: be as quiet as possible when awake in the middle of the night, so as not to disturb your neighbors.

"With renewed courage he stepped outside and zipped the door shut more quiet and slowly. The cold hit him almost immediately. It must have been nearly freezing outside; the numbness in his hands was certainly not the result of a humid night. He turned on his light again, pointing it far down to the ground; comfortable sleepers easily saw light through tents. He let out a sigh, his breath visible above the shaft of light. He scanned the tent lines and found a place where he could venture into the forest a small ways, and find a comfortable spot.

"His eyes focused on the light in front of him as he stepped loudly against the night sky. The noise of his tent ruffling in the wind was now replaced by the leaves in the trees; a loud, omnipresent roar. Grass crunched beneath the thick soles of his large hiking boots; the sound had the same effect as the zipper to him—comforting, and yet disrupting.

"Now the feeling of loneliness came onto him even more as he passed the tents and followed the small trail into the thick trees." Lilo paused again to turn the page and adjust the light behind her; she began reading again, except this time faster, and with more of a suspenseful tone, sometimes running sentences together. "He wandered for a few minutes, trying to find a rock or dead tree. After a few more moments he finally gave up and decided to wander to the nearest tree.

"He quickly shut his light off and stood very still as he depleted his supply on the tree. Once done, he hooked his belt through and latched it shut, and went for his light. But in that time, a rustle sounded off behind him; one that was louder than the wind and yet still very soft.

"Quickly he turned and tried to find out where the sound came from, but it was too dark too see anything, now that his eyes were still too dependent on the flashlight. He fumbled the MAG in his numb fingers, and twisted the cap to turn it on. To his dismay, no light flared from the bulb; it remained dead and dark.

"Tim's heart began to beat quicker, but he quickly suppressed the rate and turned to the light of the moon through the trees. It was dull and pale, shining only in a tiny spot where the trunks were not present and the light could touch the dark green grass. He stepped into the spot, a long narrow strip of light that meandered violently and was cut into several lengths along the horizon. For a moment, he felt safe...but only for a moment.

"Another rustle came from behind him, making him dart around. Aiming the flashlight in the general directing, he attempted to turn it on again, but with no avail. A sweep of panic flooded his mind; that noise he heard was a rustle, but it was too unnatural.

"_'It's Duncan.' _His mind tried to tell him. _'He's always playing pranks on you, it's just him, not a werewolf from one of stories...werewolves don't exist.'_ He heaved another sigh, and took a step. But stopped abruptly as the rustle sounded again, immediately after the noise of his boot came. He stepped again, and again the rustle came, almost rhythmically. _'That's just Duncan...'_

"Immediately he increased his pace, and so did the rustle. Now he was sure it was someone...or _something_. 'Hey!' He called out, 'I know you're there, who are you? Duncan?' There was no response, except for another muted rustle. 'Answer me!' Tim shouted. As if on cue, a howl emanated from somewhere he was facing.

"Immediately he dropped his flashlight and ran; pounding through the trees as his heart screamed with fear to the point of bursting. The rustles behind him doubled, something with four legs was running after him, and it was gaining. He glanced behind, but saw nothing in the moonlight. He continued to follow the slim trail that peeked through the trees, but didn't catch the dead root that protruded from the ground.

"His foot whipped to the left and his ankle twisted with a crunch as he fell and skidded across the ground, landing hard against the trees that were near him. Pain swept his body, but he reacted without caring about it. He fumbled to his hands and knees and tried to stand, when he heard a growl come from in front of him. Though he wished not to, he forced himself to look up slowly. He panned across the dark shadow, and screamed in fear as he saw the two, glowing, blood-red eyes of the-"

Lilo screamed loudly as a booming clash of thunder shook the house violently; she slammed the book (entitled _"True Encounters With Werewolves") _shut and threw it to the other side of the room. Stitch let out a mute cry, and toward the covers of Lilo's bed, ducking under them and shivering with fear, causing the flashlight mounted no the side of the bed frame to fall and blink out with a dull thump. Lilo sat for a long moment, as more tremors of sound rippled through the house from the storm outside. She forced her breathing to slow down, and deepened her intake.

"That...was..." She muttered over the thunderclaps, reaching with a trembling hand and turning on the light. "_The _scariest..." Another thunderclap droned out her sentence. "Make room!" She yelled at her friend under the covers, as she bolted under them as well, and joined him in his cowering.


	2. The Bite

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 2: The Bite

--October 29; 1:33 AM; The Tower

"Acoota!" Stitch whispered quickly as he woke from his light sleep, his arms came to his head as he sat up slightly, to block something imagined in his mind. His eyes flashed for a second, then vision snapped on, and he realized he was only having a dream; however he couldn't remember the dream, or why he woke himself up, but he judged from the amount of perspiration dripping down his neck that it must have been a dream he's fortunate to have not remembered.

The night was warm and humid on his fur, which was frayed and twisted in every direction possible; a whirlwind of hair surrounding his body. He straightened out as much as he could, and left the other puffs, as they were too annoyingly frustrating to flatten. His eyes adjusted more to the almost pitch-black room. He was soon able to see well enough to gather his whereabouts; he had (somehow) fallen asleep next to Lilo, who was sprawled in an uncomfortable looking position underneath the drenched sheets. One arm sprayed out to the side, Stitch remembered tossing and turning over it, and the other was behind her head, situated behind her neck.

He adjusted the arm behind her neck, as its veins were bloated with the stationary blood; she would have probably woken with pins and needles soon had he not. Not wanting to disturb her further, he slid off the bed and stepped onto the carpeted floor. The fuzzy fabric tickled the pads of his feet as he shuffled by, he glanced at the clock on the other side of the bed before hopping up into his little bunk.

He nuzzled his nose into the soft, dry covers and dried the excess water on his neck onto the other side of the pillow, then turned it back over and laid down. His eyes remained open for a short time, and the thought of the story crossed his mind; at the time, that was scariest thing he'd ever heard. He was actually a bit confused as to why he allowed himself to listen to that story. Even though Lilo always spoke of the supernatural—mummies, mud monsters, ghosts...werewolves—he had always regarded them as fake, because he knew they were. But this book claimed that its stories were indeed real, it said so right on the cover.

_"Real Encounters With Werewolves" _He read again, lifting his head and craning his neck to see the book near the far wall; flat, and opened to some random page to display both covers to him. The back merely consisted of black boarders and texts, but the front was quite scary; a picture of a wolf shadowed in darkness, its eyes a glowing red, and just barely visible, blood dripped from its fangs. For a second, the cover looked very real to Stitch, as that wolf was the same one that was supposedly in the story that they were just reading a few hours ago.

Despite the rising fear in him, Stitch closed his eyes and banished it completely. Even if werewolves were to be scary and evil, he could take one on. He played a simulation in his mind, imagining himself dodging bites and blows, laughing at the strange animal's attempts to hurt him. Stitch knew he was strong, fast, and smart, but deep down inside, he didn't really think he could stand up to a werewolf..._if _they _were _real.

He used that fact to back his courage up; werewolves were nonexistent, weren't they? His mind started to doubt the facts he'd been told. He'd never seen one, but then again no one had ever really convinced him that they _weren't _real; Lilo seemed to speak as though they were. He started to panic again.

_"Just go to sleep." _He thought. _"It'll all be better during the day." _He brushed his cheek against the dry pillow once again, and felt the warm, humid night air, and used it to his comfort. Warm felt so securing right now. Soon, Stitch found his eyes closing and his mind slightly wandering and drifting into slumber.

But something wasn't right; Stitch could feel it in the air. He opened his eyes again and sighed, unable to get to sleep after a few long minutes of trying. He shifted onto his back and let the blood settle in the back of his mind. He stared blankly at the ceiling's dark texture, smooth and sleek chrome...it looked boring to him. He leaned over and pressed the button to open up the skylight above his bed.

Moonlight filtered in through the hole, basking him in a mystical glow of cyan sparkle. Stars twinkled in deep blue canvas of the night sky, glistening every now and then, and disappearing as a cloud drifted past on its way to the left. Stitch let out a tranquil sigh; night was his favorite scenery about earth.

Stitch debated with himself; he wanted to go outside, but didn't know why. Maybe it was the sky, maybe it was moon, or maybe it was just the gentle breeze that brushed past his nose, but he suddenly felt the urge to run in the night; something about this thought just seemed unique and different.

"Eh." He told himself, tossing the sheets off and standing in his bed. He reached up for the skylight and without a sound, slipped through the passage, barely scraping the sides with his hind.

Outside, a gust of salted wind blew past him constantly. Whatever ruffles were left in his fur were reordered and fixed by the sheer thrust of the breeze. He stepped across on the roof, and hooked his claws into the metal to climb down.

At ground level the wind was much calmer, barely felt by his ears. The grass was wet from the storm that had occurred, and ended sometime between nine and twelve o'clock. The clouds outside seemed no more threatening than a slight drizzle, if anything. He took in the sweet scent of the saturated earth, and took off in a run.

This _was_ different; this _was _unique. It felt strange to him, just running around without no reason or cause, except just to run. It felt relaxing, the mud squishing between his toes and the flowers that smelled of rose and grape around him as he darted into the brush. He was beginning to love the woods; the scenery, the animals, the fun times he and Lilo had while occasionally playing hide'n'seek.

He stopped as he ran out of breath, kneeling by a twisted, wet, old tree; its bark slick with water that appeared to be trickling in between the cracks. A staccato of tiny thumps of raindrops hitting against the ground sounded all around him, he listened to their beat as his heart's own drum slowed down.

But, there was another beat of a different noise coming from the distance. A solid, strong beat, which trampled grass and broke sticks. Stitch looked around, but didn't see anything, and thought nothing of it. Until, that is, he remembered the book. A pike of adrenaline shot through his body as his mind thought of the boy in the woods in the story. He felt as though he were in that position, and imagined himself being hunted down by a wolf. He'd never actually seen one in real life, other than a few pictures, including the cover art.

His eyes narrowed, he hadn't even thought of the option that it was just another animal; some sort of rabbit or skunk. He darted his sights from left to right, turning on his nocturnal vision, his eyes glowing a fluorescent red. The sound was still off in the distance, it sounded as though the "wolf" were running _away _from him. He followed the sound, a long distance behind it.

Suddenly, the sound stopped, and so did he. Frozen in fear that the animal had sensed his presence, Stitch fitted his footing and tensed himself, ready to fight. For a minute and a half he stood erect, without motion, and barely breathing. The hair on his back repeatedly stood on end, as if trying to guess when the animal was going to pounce out of the brush, and missing its timing.

Finally, Stitch moved; he relaxed his arms and decided it was safe for the time being. He slowly breathed out and closed his eyes. As if waiting, the a rustle in the bushes right behind him alerted his instincts, and he turned around in a flash and pounced in the general direction of the noise with a scream of power.

He saw what he was about to attack; and it was but an innocent kitten. Immediately he forced his weight down and slammed into the ground, falling short of the tiny cat. He looked up from the dirt at the gray furred feline, and it mewed cheerfully in his ears.

"Oh..." Stitch cooed at it, and in a way that slightly shamed him. But still he felt relieved that it wasn't a wolf. _"See? They don't exist." _He told himself again. He patted the cat on the head, but it suddenly had a frightened body gesture, and twirled itself around, leaping back into the bushes and off into the distance to where Stitch couldn't here its pace any longer. Slightly sad, Stitch stood and proceeded back to the house; he'd had enough excitement for one day.

Stitch heard another noise on his way back, but didn't think about the "wolf" anymore, he knew better now. To him it was just some other animal. He continued on, unaware of what was stalking him. He had no time to react; he heard two barks, sharp and crisp, and turned around only to scream in pain as two jaws clamped hard into his arm. His eyes went blurry and his footing was lost; he fell to the floor looking up at the source of the pain. Before he blackened, he saw what he feared most at the moment, two large, demonic, red eyes, and gleaming fangs that sung in the moonlight.


	3. Preparations

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 3: Preparations

--October 29; 1:52 PM; The Tower

"...Finally! You're awake!" Stitch heard Lilo's muffled voice in his ears. He opened his eyelids with extreme force; they resisted him heavily. "How late did you go to sleep last night?" She asked, as he tried to sit up.

_"Last night?" _Stitch thought. He tried to remember, but his mind felt like a thousand rocks. "Naga nota." He replied, scratching between his ears. Lilo dropped down from his slightly raised bed and landed with a fumbling noise. Stitch peered over the edge, but Lilo was fine.

"Pleakley made breakfast." She spoke, as thought nothing had happened. "Come down when you're ready ok?"

"Oketaka." He told her, and she wandered to the elevator and pressed the button to go down, smiling at him as she drifted down from view. Stitch scratched himself over more; it felt as though he had just played in the grass. He scratched and scratched, but it didn't do anything to the tiny concentrated spots of tingling itch. While he scratched, he thought of last night. "Was it...real?" He asked himself. It felt as though it was a dream, but simultaneously it felt as thought it indeed _was _real. He couldn't decide.

Then he remembered the last bits of his "dream"; an animal bit him in the left arm. He felt the pain as he remembered it as if it were happening again; it felt very real. He ran a hand across his fur, trying to find bite marks or concealed blood—there was nothing. He shook his head.

"Sagasha makootaba." He muttered to himself, and hopped off the bed to the elevator, taking it down to the second floor. He finished stretching and yawning as it landed with a soft, airy thump, and proceeded down the hallway, scratching again at the prickles of itch all over his body.

He slumped down the stairs and looked to his right into the kitchen; two plates were left full adjacent to each other on the large wooden table. Lilo was nowhere to be found, he called out, but didn't get a response. He shrugged his shoulders and wandered into the kitchen. He walked in casually, in case he should be spotted, and proceeded past the table, and stopped; not at the counter, but at the coffee machine, of course.

He glanced around; to the right, to the left, behind him, above him. Slowly he turned his head to the center and eyed his thick, dark trophy in the little flask. Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached his hand up to the side, and turned the handle to the front. He moved it with a soft, steady grind of glass against the bottom of the stand. He stood, waiting for something to happen, but felt it was safe. Slowly he tipped the flask over, inching the spout of it closer to his lips...

"HA!" Stitches fur puffed out with surprise as Lilo jumped out from the pantry to the right of him, darted over and tackled him; seizing the flask in one hand and holding him stable with the other. "You just can't pass up an opportunity, _can _you?" She said slyly. Stitch scoffed to himself at the fact that he hadn't recognized that this was a trap.

"Oketaka, oketaka; Stitch give! Stitch give!" He threw his hands up in surrender and waved them peacefully. Lilo let go of his neck and stepped up to the counter, placing the flask of desire back into the stand of the coffee machine.

"Good boy." She smirked. Stitch grumbled, but still smiled. As if nothing happened they walked to the table and sat to eat the cold bacon and pancakes. Stitch swallowed his whole in a fraction of a second, before Lilo had even started. "You're staying." She ordered.

"Uh huh." He agreed, not minding the wait.

"Were _you _able to get to sleep last night?" She asked with a mouthful of food.

"Eh." He replied. It was obvious they both had, but she was referring to the story, and if it was hard for him to close his eyes without being paranoid that something was going to come through their window.

"I can't remember when I got to sleep...I just got too tired after a while, I think."

"Lilo slept well, Stitch woke and saw."

"Nightmare woke you?" He shrugged. "It woke me up. I dreamt you and I were out in the woods and a werewolf ambushed us...I don't think I'm going to keep that book in my room until Halloween is over." She said.

"Two days" Stitch said, holding up two claws that gleamed in the sunlight.

"Yup, two days until candy...our own that is. I don't think we'll get many people this year..." Lilo said sadly.

"Esa choppa katooka." Stitch said highly.

"Yeah, I suppose it is the thought that counts. Maybe we can get some experiments together and go trick-o-treating..." Lilo stalled in her sentence and thought about that idea for a second. "Or...maybe not." She said, thinking of all the disaster that would inevitably come. Stitch giggled, thinking the same thing.

"Konjuta?"

"No, I haven't decided yet. Have you?"

"Naga." He replied, putting his hands to his cheeks.

"Maybe you and I should think of ideas that go together, like..." Lilo put the butt of the fork to her face and tapped it a few times. "A cat and a pumpkin...a mouse and a rat...what else?"

"Stitch and Lilo?" He said.

"That'd be pretty boring to go as ourselves..." She replied. Stitch lowered his face in agreement. "Well, we can think about that later, Nani's taking us either tonight or tomorrow so we have some time. Until then, we have to get ready for the event." She said, putting down the silverware on the empty plate.

"Gaba ju chuta?"

"'What do I mean'? The decorations silly." Stitch shifted his mouth, as if to say 'I know that'. Lilo laughed and pushed away from the table, the chair making a loud scooting noise across the tile floor. "C'mon, they're in the attic." She beckoned, motioning Stitch to follow her. He scooted out as well and waited for a second. After Lilo jetted up the stairs, he tiptoed toward the coffee machine. "And _no _coffee!" Lilo screamed from the hall.

"Oh..." Stitch groaned in guilt. "Coming Lilo." He pranced on all fours and skipped the stairs, climbing up the wall and scaling the side of the hallway, meeting up with her at the attic string that hovered above her head. He stepped onto the platform—that was 'down' to him—and pulled on the string. His feet lurched forward and he flipped over to reorient his positioning so that he landed on the ground. The stairs flew out from the latch that now hung wide open, and Stitch caught them with one hand, letting them down gently. "Aga-ju chata." He said, bowing and allowing her first entry.

"Thank you." She said, walking up the flight, he followed after she was out of the way. "Forget decorating the house." Lilo said, "This place is so scary we just have to ring people up here; there's a thick layer of dust everywhere." Stitch knew that before she said it, his nose clogged and his throat gagged at the amount of dust looming around in the air, and on the chests and boxes that littered the old wooden storage space.

"Chaki." Stitch pointed at the far end of the attic. He assumed that's where the Halloween stuff was, as there was a large jack-o-lantern sitting out in the open.

"Nice eye." Lilo said, clomping over to the chests. "I'll throw 'em down, you catch 'em."

"Eh." He replied, giving a solute before he dove down to the floor. "Ready!" He called up through the trapdoor.

"Ok, give me a sec." She called back, moving a heavy box onto the floor. It hit with a thump and grinded with the dust as she scooted it across the floor and dumped it through the opening in the floor. "Catch!" She called. A split second later she heard Stitch yell in pain and a crashing noise. She peered over the edge of the attic entrance and saw him on the floor, his arms in the air, and the box to the side of him, slightly bent. "Are you ok?"

"Oh...I'm ok," he said cheerfully, "I'm fluffy!" Immediately he groaned again and clasped a hand to his forehead. "This time, warn Stitch _before _dropping." He said.

"Ok, ok." She complied. Stitch saw her face duck back behind the ceiling, and heard her footsteps as she walked to his right. He heard the familiar sounds of her scooting another box over, and this time he was ready. "Ok, it's coming down." She said. He spread his arms and a moment later the heavy box dropped. With a grunt he caught it, hefted it, and set it down gently to the side. "Three more." Lilo said, as she ran back to the stash.

Five minutes later, all five boxes were in the hallway, and Stitch was helping Lilo step down from the stairs. He climbed the walls and shut the door on the roof, securing it, and then peeled off onto the floor. He carried four—one in each arm—while Lilo carried one.

"Ok, here's the deal," Lilo said, as they slumped the boxes onto the floor in the living room. "Nani's got me in charge of decorations while she gets extra stuff and candy." Stitch's eyes lit up at the word "candy". "Our job is to get all this," she motioned toward the boxes, "up before tonight. If we start now, we can probably finish by then." Stitch looked at the time, it was now almost three o'clock.

"Stitch slept late?" He asked, interrupting Lilo's little speech.

"_Yeah _you did. I spent all morning trying to wake you up." She said.

"Oh...soka." He said, not realizing she had been waiting on him to wake up.

"It's ok, I understand. I didn't get up until about eleven." Stitch smiled. "Ok, let's get starated, c'mon." Stitch nodded, and immediately they were underway, taking decoration after decoration out of the humongous boxes that seemed to migrate all around the house, depending on where they were needed. Along with a few more trips to the attic to get out big decorations they had saved for later.

All through the hours of their decretive project, however, Stitch kept thinking about the night before. Why did it seem so real...and yet so dreamlike at the same time? He tried to figure it out. If it was real, where was the bite mark? If it wasn't real, how did he wind up with so many grass-irritations? These thoughts lingered until the sun went down of their little house, and night fell once again. Halloween, was only a full day away.


	4. Memory Lapse

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 4: Memory Lapse

--October 30; 11:04 AM; The Tower

All at once Stitch felt his body come alive, as if someone had flipped a switch. His eyes snapped open, his jaw hung slightly, his ears twitched and his fingers clung together around the sheets that covered him. He was panting heavily, completely out of breath, sitting up in his bed as if he'd been in that position _before _he awoke. His blood pulsed quickly; he could feel his vessels fluctuate. Beads of sweat dripped from the fur sticking away from his body, and fell around him, drenching his bed.

_"What...what happened..." _He thought. He tried to remember...but drew a blank. He suddenly felt as though he'd lost a day or so of his life, like it never even existed. He seared again and again in his mind for what happened—the day before, last night, before he fell asleep—nothing. He exhaled, realizing he was holding his breath.

"Are you ok?" He heard Lilo's voice ask. She was on her elbow, lifting her head up under the covers to look at him. Stitch searched for an answer...but couldn't find one.

"Eh." Was all he said; and he said it very nervously. His hear was just now beginning to slow down. _"What happened...why did I wake up like this?" _Stitch felt as though something happened, but couldn't remember. It was like having food poisoning, and he didn't know what he ate that caused him to get it. Something happened, and he couldn't understand or remember what. "Um...Lilo?"

"Huh?"

"When did Stitch fall asleep last night?" He asked, trying to sound casual and failing slightly.

"I don't exactly know. You went outside for some reason, and I fell asleep before you got back." She said, trying to recall what happened, her mind sluggish (as she had just woken up). "Why?" She asked.

_"I think I got bit by a werewolf." _He wanted to say. As she spoke the memory of the night before flooded into his mind, he imagined it a bit differently then it had happened but ultimately the ending was the same; a dog-like creature had bit him in the arm, but the bite wasn't there the next morning. "Just...curious." He said calmly. _"Stop thinking that, it's ridiculous. There's no such things as werewolves." _

"Thanks for helping yesterday...I know it must've been pretty boring." Lilo said, referring to the hours and hours they had literally spent decorating the house. Stitch didn't remember much of it, but he nodded anyway. "Did you think about what you're going to be?" She asked.

"Naga..." Stitch replied, switching over to think about a costume. He was pretty much a Halloween costume _himself_. What could he be?

"Nani said she's not able to take us because of work, it'll be Halloween night by the time she gets home. She's left us some money to get something on our own, but its gotta be under," she tapped a finger to her chin, counting the amount Nani had told her she left, "thirty dollars."

"Oketaka. Lilo decide?" He asked her back.

"Actually, I did..."

"Gaba ju kita?"

"I'm going to make it a surprise, ok?" She said, squinting her eyes to make it seem more mysterious. Stitch grumbled, but shrugged. "And I know exactly how much I need for it, it's only ten dollars." She continued, thinking about what she had seen in a catalog two days ago. She thought about the two costumes she was fighting over, and again made sure that her decision was really the one she wanted, and smiled. "When do you want to go?"

"Naga nota, after breakfast?"

"Sure." Stitch headed to the elevator while Lilo went into the closet to change. As Stitch rode it down, he tried to remember what happened last night, and still came up with nothing. He sighed as the elevator hit the floor with its soft, airy _thump_, and stepped out into the hallway, and widened his eyes with surprise.

"Stitch? Why are you standi-...woah..." He heard Lilo speak, as she came down from the tower. The hallway was strewn with lights and decorations, as well as claw marks, broken wood, ripped walls, and maybe more damage, but they couldn't see. "What happened here?" Lilo asked aloud, as if Stitch would know the answer.

_"...This is too much of a coincidence." _He leaned down and put a paw to one of the claw marks on the ground. His claws fit, but they were small compared to the marks, yet somehow they resembled his pattern. _"These look like mine...but they're huge." _

"What are you doing?" Lilo asked, stepping over to Stitch. He quickly pulled his hand away.

"Nagitcha." He replied quickly.

"Maybe this is something of Jumba's doing." Lilo suggested, shifting the strap of the green duffel bag onto her other shoulder. "Let's not worry about it, come on." Although her words were meant to distract them from the destruction, it proved pointless. Some of the house was covered with claw marks, while other areas remained untouched. "Asking him...as soon as possible." Lilo said, adding on to sentence before.

"Eh." Stitch agreed. The kitchen wasn't thrashed as much, but was still chaotic; one pantry door was even thrown across the room. Stitch felt queasy. Lilo sighed and wandered over to the pantry that had no door, and took out a cereal box. The top was ripped off, the bottom opened, and the cereal dumped onto the floor as soon as the support of the pantry under it was gone. Lilo gazed at pile of flakes on the floor for a moment.

"What do you say...we eat out...?"

"Yeah." Stitch agreed immediately, and rushed to the door to open it. Lilo stepped through and jumped down the stairs followed by Stitch.

"Oh, I almost forgot, put on your Kenny disguise." Lilo said, rummaging through the small duffel bag and pulling the sunglasses, wig, tennis shoes, brown shorts, and red shirt. Stitch grumbled and slipped on the clothes, and together they trotted the short distance into the city. They took the right at the street leading away from their house and walked a little ways down the sidewalk, they came to an intersection with the roads and building surrounding them on all sides. "Which way?"

"Hm...let's check over here." Lilo said, pointing to her left. They waited for a few cars to pass and wandered down to the next intersection, and glanced around. "I know it's around here somewhere..." Lilo thought aloud, looking at street signs and building names. Stitch also looked; though he didn't know exactly what Lilo was looking for, he was looking for something to point them in the right direction. "C'mon, down that way." Lilo pointed across the intersection to the parallel street on the other side.

They waited for another few cars to pass, one honking its horn at a stalling driver, and quickly bolted across the street before another car passed. Lilo dropped the duffel bag halfway across; Stitch immediately turned around and swiped it up just as the walk light turned red. Lilo patted him on the head when he handed it back off to her. They continued down the road in the direction that they had started at first, again searching for street signs or other things that would lead them to a costume store.

"Igata?" Stitch shouted over the roar of beeping cars. He pointed to a sign on the opposite side of the road in between a bookstore and a Halloween shop that read, "Half-off for the half-living Halloween sale at Magee's."

"That's it!" She said, "nice eye." Stitch smiled and crossed the street after her. They stopped at the sign again to take a rest. "I still want to surprise you." Lilo said to Stitch, referring to her Halloween costume. "How about..." She looked at the bookstore to their left; which was also having a Halloween sale, except on books, of course. "Can you hang out in that store while I get my costume? It'll only take a minute, and maybe looking at some Halloween books will help you decide."

"Oketaka." He agreed, with a bit of excitement. He liked the idea of being surprised, it made him really wonder what she was going to be; he really had no clue at all.

"I'll find you in the bookstore, see you in a few minutes." She said, running into Magee's and almost bumping into another person as she entered. Stitch laughed, and turned into their rendezvous store. The air conditioning hit him immediately, blew his fake hair to the point where he had to slap it down to keep it on. He was always amused that no one could ever tell he was from outer space, except Lilo and his family.

He milled around between the large dark-wood bookcases, looking at titles of novels that he knew, but most he didn't. Some books Lilo had, some he'd seen Pleakley reading, some he himself had read. (As much as he could, anyway. Reading wasn't his strongest asset.)

Eventually, he came upon a curious section; it was a table completely filled with books that were deemed a Halloween theme. Some were just horror novels, but many were associated with the holiday. Stitch glanced across the books, and came across a familiar one he knew all too well. The picture of the wolf seemed to light up to him, dominating the others around it. He didn't read the title; he knew exactly what it was. Losing interest, he moved his eyes to the right of the book, and saw another stack of books different from "_True encounters with werewolves"_.

It had no picture, it was only black and silver on the cover. However, as Stitch scrutinized it more closely, he realized that there was a picture of a wolf's head etched into the dark cover. He felt his fingers across the bevel-embossed image. The letters on the book were the same, cutting across it with depressions so that one had to feel rather than read. The book was entitled "_Everything about the myth; werewolves_". He took the top book and held it in one arm, and used the other to flip the cover open. The picture of the wolf's head was sketched in on the fly page, and a message was inscribed in letters Stitch could barely read. He gave up trying to understand it, and flipped another couple pages into the table of contents; five sections and page numbers were present. "Basics", "Legends", "Accounts", "Domestication", and "Liberation" were the titles of the sections.

_"Maybe I should get this..." _He thought, _"It seems interesting." _Although, his reason was far different; in the back of his mind Stitch wanted to buy it because of what had happened the pas few days. A bit of him was convinced that it was a werewolf that bit him in the forest, and that bit of him wanted to buy this book to make sure.

"Kenny? Kenny?" A little girl's voice hit Stitch's ears; it was Lilo calling him by his disguised name.

"Here." He whispered back.

"There you are. I got what I wanted, it was the last one, are you ready to go?" Stitch held the book in his hand and pointed at it with one claw, grunting. "You want to get the book?"

"Eh, eh." He said excitedly.

"Ok, is that what you're going to be then?" She asked, looking at the etched wolf on the cover. Stitch glanced at it, and thought a moment.

"Suga." He replied. It would be easy to be a werewolf for him, he was already doggish to begin with. Lilo lead him to the counter and put the book up for the cashier to ring it. Lilo could barely see above the countertop, and had to stand on tiptoes to talk to the woman standing behind the register.

'That'll be three dollars and eighty-seven cents." The woman said coolly. Lilo zipped open the duffel bag and pulled out four one's, handing them over. "Here you are." The lady said, handing her a bag and the change.

"Thank you, ma'am." Lilo said.

"Thank _you_." The woman called back.

"C'mon Kenny." Lilo beckoned. Stitch followed her out, and shut the door behind him, eager to read the book as soon as they got home.


	5. Silhouette

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 5: Silhouette

--October 30; 7:44 PM; Cleaning the house

"There," Lilo said, brushing her hands together, "that's all taken care of." The sound of a car was heard outside; Lilo and Stitch's attention was drawn to the noise, as it grew louder, softer, then stopped altogether. "And just in time; Nani's home."

"Phew." Stitch said, as he gazed around the living room. All the claw marks, wreckage, and destruction were cleaned up. Jumba had no idea what had caused it. They were able to ask him during their cleaning, and he offered suggestions; none of which helped them at all. It wasn't an experiment; _that_ they knew for sure. They hadn't seen Gantu all week. Stitch was led to believe it was he that caused the wreckage.

He'd spent more and more time wondering about it. He flipped through a few pages of the book, but couldn't read much of it, and was waiting for Jumba to translate it with his newest invention. Perhaps then he'd be able to settle his mind, but he was convinced already that it was a werewolf that bit him outside two days ago, and he knew about being bitten by a werewolf all too well.

"Hey Lilo, Stitch." Nani greeted, coming through the door and laying a few bags out on the floor. "I have some stuff in the car, do you think you can get it and bring it inside while I put it away?" She asked while walking into the kitchen.

"Sure." Lilo replied, as they both ran to the door. "Did you buy the pumpkin?" She shouted through the door.

"Yeah, it's in the trunk, but get it last." Came the response. Lilo ran down and met Stitch at the bottom of the stairs outside; he was already getting bags upon bags onto his four arms.

"You sure are handy." Lilo commented. Stitch smiled as he turned around, all the bags hooked onto his arms like apples on a tree. "I guess I'll get the pumpkin then..." Lilo said. She jumped onto the truck and unlatched the lip of metal on the back, jumping off and taking it down with her so she could climb in. In the back sat the big orange ball, lazily sleeping against the side of the dark green paint.

Lilo crawled on hands and knees to the back and rolled the pumpkin to the front on the lip, then hopped off and gripped it in a hug. She hefted it without lifting, to see if she could carry it. It was a bit heavy, but nothing she couldn't handle. With a grunt of determination she backed up, using her body as a flat plain to aid her in carrying the bulbous, orange plant. As the pumpkin left the lip of the truck, Lilo felt the full of its weight and toppled over, losing her balance.

"Two-way!" She uttered, as she fell over, her feet slipping from under her.

"Gotcha!" She heard Stitch yell, and felt two hands stop her from hitting the ground. The pumpkin landed with a soft _thump-ump-ump _and swished to halt, gliding along the leaves.

"Thanks Stitch." Lilo said, looking up at his face.

"No problem." He said, lifting her to her feet and walking to the pumpkin. Without much effort at all he lifted it up, and placed it on his head for better balance. "After you." He said, his lower arms ushering her ahead.

"Ok, put it on the kitchen table." She said, running up the steps and holding the door open for the arriving pumpkin. Stitch went through, barely scraping the sides, and huffed over to the table where he set it down with an exaggerated slam.

"Hey, not so hard." Nani yelled, "I want that table to stay up for at least another couple of days before you break it."

"Soka." Stitch apologized.

"Don't yell at him, he was just bringing it in." Lilo begged.

"Alright, alright, no harm done." Nani said, inspecting the table. "Take it out back and put it somewhere in the sun, I want it to bleach a little bit before we carve it tomorrow."

"Right," Lilo said, "Stitch?"

"Eh." Stitch nodded, taking the pumpkin again. Lilo ran to the back door and opened it like the front for him, this time Stitch had more trouble, but eventually he got it through (with minor cracks along the doorframe). Lilo glanced around for a place to put it, and gasped.

"Stitch, there's more damage!" She exclaimed.

"Huh?" He asked, trying to look beyond the orange ball blocking his vision.

"Just put it down." Lilo ordered, and so he did. He glanced in the direction she had pointed. "Look." Along the wall where the Tower protruded from the back of the house, large, long claw marks scraped the side all the way up its length. They seemed to be leading up, but scraping down, suggesting someone—or some_thing_—was climbing down feet-first.

"Isa choota."

"I know; this _is _weird." Lilo agreed. "What do you think did it?" She asked rhetorically.

"Miga." Stitch replied. His eyes widened, he hadn't expected that he would actually reply what his mind had thought, but his lips had apparently acted on their own.

"You? What makes you think _you _did it? I mean, I know you're destructive, but those are _not _you're claw marks, they're huger compared to yours." She said.

"Isa...logo yokooba..." He replied truthfully.

"What's a long story...what are talking abou-?"

"Everyone, dinner's ready!" Nani shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Never mind, tell me later, come on." Lilo said, running into the house. Stitch followed more slowly.

--October 30; 10:30 PM; The Tower

Stitch flipped a page out of his book. Jumba had handed him the copy that his invention had made—it was designed to copy the book right down to the letter and cover, but translate it into any written language. So far, he found nothing; only what he knew.

"Werewolves; the mythological creatures...when bitten it is supposed you become a werewolf..." The elevator hummed to life and Lilo appeared out of the floor below Stitch. He glanced to the left and shut his book as she arrived.

"Aloha." She greeted, tossing a bowl of ice cream up to him. He caught it, not expecting it to come flying at him so quickly. "It's meant to be orange, it's pumpkin flavor." She said, reading Stitch's startled expression. He preferred mint chocolate-chip, but he wasn't about to complain. Lilo hopped up onto his bed, and ate her bowl along with him.

"Did Jumba's translator work?" She asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Eh, English hard to read." He said.

"I _tried _to teach you, but no..." Lilo stressed the "o", "you just had to not pay attention." She giggled. He laughed—more or less a sigh really—and ate another spoonful; the ice cream wasn't bad. Not entirely favorable, but not bad. "Why did you get that book anyway? You're not _scared _that there are werewolves out there are you?" Lilo teased.

"N...naga." Stitch replied, trying not to put any emotion into his response.

"Oh come on, we talk about werewolves, mummies, monsters and ghosts all the time." Stitch merely looked down and ate another spoonful. "Well, anyway. Now that I have your attention, what was it you were trying to tell me before dinner?" She asked, nonchalantly, trying to keep the curiosity out of her voice.

"Uh...isa naga ziba-"

"Oh just tell me, it's not like I'm going to make fun of you for it." Stitch felt a wave of heat flush through his face. He tried to pause for as long as possible, eating a spoonful and chewing it for a long moment. "Stitch..."

"Alright...alright..." He surrendered. "Miga shuta...eekata boocha..." He said, lowering his voice with every syllable.

"You think you're a what?"

"...A werewolf..." He repeated. He looked away for a moment, waiting for Lilo to laugh, but heard nothing. Warily, he turned his head back to her, and saw her looking up in deep thought.

"What makes you think that?" She asked him, her tone made her sound interested, which surprised Stitch's expectations of her reaction.

"Stitch can't remember well but was bitten." He told her.

"When?" She asked, almost immediately.

"Two nights ago."

"Where?"

"Outside." He pointed, and Lilo looked in his direction, then back at him.

"Well, let me tell you, you're not a werewolf. If you were, I would have seen you, or heard you, or noticed _something _last night. There was a full moon, and you looked at it twice before I went to sleep. Nothing happened."

"But-"

'There's one out tonight even, c'mon, I'll show you." She said, standing up in his bed and pressing the button that opened the skylight.

"Naga!" Stitch exclaimed, shielding his eyes from the moonlight that filtered in on his face. Lilo stood him up and moved his arms away, and forced his eyelids open. The shine on his glossy pupils shuddered as his eyes twitched rapidly. Nothing happened, as far as his appearance went, for thirty seconds.

"See?" Lilo said, "No werewolf. There's no werewolves...not in Hawaii anyway. They're only in North America; they haven't come here yet." Stitch sighed, and pushed the button to close the skylight. "Let's go to bed, I'm beat." Lilo said, taking Stitch's bowl.

"Oketaka." Stitch agreed. It was getting late, bed sounded like a good idea. Lilo took the elevator down and disappeared from sight. Stitch opened the skylight again, now reassured that the moon was safe to look at. _"I'm no werewolf." _His mind said, as he stared at the full moon to prove his statement.

Lilo placed the bowls and spoons in the sink and washed her hands. Wringing them off, she walked over the tile floor, her bare feet making soft padded clicks. She thumped on the wood, and trampled up the stairs. At the top, she took it slowly, her feet now shuffling across the carpet. Pressing the button she rode the elevator up to the Tower and sighed with exhaustion as it reached the top.

"G'night Stitch." She said, turning around to face Stitch's bed. Just a she did, she saw a shadow leap through the skylight in one bound; it seemed sort of large, but maybe it was just her eyes. "Stitch?" She asked, climbing to his bed. He wasn't under the covers. She reached up to the hole and slipped her head through, grunting with frustration and strain. Her eyes panned the dark red surface, but found nothing. "He went outside again." She said, and dropped back into the room.


	6. Late Awakening

(Note: I apologize; I had planned to finish this story by Sunday night (31st) but did not finish, as there was a large storm last night. Please don't let the passing of all hallows eve hinder the mood of the story.

--Kenjaje)

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 6: Late Awakening

--October 31; around 2:30 PM; Leaning against the Tower's outside wall

"_Running. Randomly? No...chasing...chasing after...something-someone? Who-what? Whatever...whatever bit me. Dark...trees...owl's...full moon. A dream? No...real, but distant. A scent...familiar; someone I know. Following it. Getting closer...a flash. Daylight? lightning? No...too quick. Pain. Wh-what's going on?"_

Stitch groaned, his mind woke up slowly, and his body even slower. He heard the birds chirping, the wind blowing, and felt the sun on his fur, but his body didn't do anything less than shudder. Another moment passed by, and Stitch suddenly realized something was out of place.

He opened his eyes and immediately squinted as the sun seared his pupils, burning a streak of green on his retina. It faded to a low purple and disappeared, Stitch's eyes adjusted fully, and he saw that he was outside. His back hurt all over, his neck felt stiff and ached. He realized he was leaning against the Tower, the pumpkin nearby to his left.

He knew exactly why he was outside. A memory came back to his mind as he thought about last night; he was staring up at the moon, and then felt himself change somehow. Fear rose in his veins.

"Where _is _he?" Stitch picked up Lilo's voice, somewhere far off in the distance. He looked around; the sun was high over to the west. His inner clock screamed in confusion, not knowing what time of day it was.

"Lilo we've been looking all day...maybe he's just out chasing an experiment." He heard Nani comfort Lilo. "Besides, Stitch wouldn't run away again would he? Did you two get into a fight last night?"

"No, of course not. At least...I don't think so." Stitch slinked up the wall, using it to help him get up. His fur was twisted again, but the sweat was dried off a long time ago. Had he been a werewolf again, and fallen asleep in the morning?

"Put the coffee outside, maybe that'll lure him." Nani suggested.

"Don't joke around like that!" Lilo snapped.

"I wasn't _joking_, I was being serious." Nani replied with a soft voice. The yelling only grew louder as Stitch hazily walked toward the back door and opened it. He stepped inside to the cool air, and slammed the door shut behind him, though he didn't mean to. "Maybe that's him." He heard Nani's voice speak after a pause of silence. A second later Lilo slid around the corner into view.

"_There _you are!" She said relieved, running toward him and clasping him in a hug. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?" She asked her questions quickly, as if she wasn't expecting answers.

"Ou...outside...sleeping." Stitch said, trying to form the words. His mind was still sluggish.

"Sleeping? You were _sleeping?_" Her voice rose with surprise.

"Eh." Stitch responded, still sounding winded.

"Were you out all night? Are you feeling ok?"

"Naga..." Stitch said, bringing his voice down to a whisper. "Stitch turned into werewolf." He said, his voice quivering.

"Stitch, you didn't turn into a werewolf. Remember, I proved you weren't one last night, I made you stare at the moon." Stitch stared down at the floor; Lilo began to think he wasn't even paying attention. "You're impossible." She said, rolling her eyes. "Look, if you really think something's wrong with you, we can try to see if one of Jumba's scans will find it."

"Oketaka." He replied, accepting her idea. Lilo stared at him for a moment; his eyes were tired and his body was shacking from weariness. She smiled calmly and walked him up the stairs and to Jumba's room.

"Come in." Jumba said, as he heard a knock on his door. "Ah, little girl, 626, what have you come to ask Jumba today? Still wondering about those strange markings I presume?"

"Strange markings? What strange markings?" Pleakley said; popping his head over the sewing machine he was behind.

"No, we're not wondering about that," Lilo said, "Stitch, thinks he's a werewolf...do you think you're computer would be able to tell if something is wrong with him or not?"

"A werewolf?" Pleakley shouted, leering at Stitch. "Werewolfes are dangerous creatures, you two shouldn't be playing with them! You're just lucky I know a thing or two about them, and know how to-"

"Pleakley, were_wolves_ aren't in Hawaii." Lilo interrupted. Pleakley blinked a few times.

"They're not?" He asked.

"No." She replied.

"Oh, well...uh...still, it's good to know just in case. Be careful."

"Enough, enough," Jumba said loudly, interrupting everything, "Now what was it you were wanting to know little girl?"

"I wanted to know if you could scan Stitch and see if something is wrong with him." She said slowly. Jumba put a hand to his chin.

"Of course I can. I'm sure Pleakley won't mind waiting a little while, while we perform the operation?" Pleakley shifted his gaze.

"Oh sure, go ahead. I'll just guess your sizes. But no complaining if it's a bit off."

"No problem." Jumba said. "Little girl, 626, be following me please." Jumba picked up his tiny portable computer and marched out of his room down the hall. Deftly they kept foot behind Jumba as he walked them outside and to the front side of the house, where he kept his ship concealed. "It is good you are wanting me to scan 626. Am needing excuse to test new hyper-performance experiment-scanning system; scans many aspects of neural, muscular, skeletal, sensory and computer systems within any and all of my experiments, and in record time too."

"How long does this one take?" Lilo asked, hoping it would be much shorter than the previous models of Jumba's scanning mechanisms.

"Should last about...five to ten minutes." He said, calculating the estimated times in his head. "Is magnificent improvement, no?"

"Actually...it _is_." She replied, astonished. Jumba's last model took three times as long to scan Stitch, and other models took up to a few hours, but ten minutes was nothing compared to those other systems. But still, the bubble-scanner was Lilo's favorite; often she and Stitch would rig it so that they could roll it around from the inside, like a rodent's exercise ball. Juba stopped at the base of his ship, and moved aside a curtain of trees, jumping inside the ship's hatch. A moment later, he emerged with a cable, and an odd looking glass circle, which was slightly raised by a smaller platform underneath.

"And here it is." He announced. "Little girl, would you be so kind as to hook this cable into Jumba's computer?" He asked, handing her the tiny egg-shaped processor. She did as he asked, while he took the other end of the cable and inserted it into a jack on the base of the odd standing pad. He then set the pad on the grass and motioned for Stitch to hop on. "Now, little girl, please come into ship. This scan, though highly efficient, is dangerous to you and me, whereas the radiation does not affect 626. So, unless you'd like for to be genetically altered...please, step inside."

"I'm there." She said, hopping into the ship, handing the computer off to Jumba. He quickly pushed in a few keys and set the computer down.

"This will not take long, 626, just stand completely still. Ready?"

"Eh." Stitch replied. Jumba quickly bent down, tapped a key on the computer, and nearly slammed his hand with the speed he used to shut the door. The scan immediately began; a rainbow surrounded Stitch's body, emanating from the glass pad below him. He flinched at first, but a warning from Jumba telling him to stand still calmed his nerves. The rainbow changed from red to violet in the order of the colors, then white, and back to the colored cycle. His fur turned the same colors as the rainbow, but as the white light surrounded him, nothing seemed to change. Except, however, he felt a buzzing inside of him, or under him he couldn't tell. It felt omnipresent, a vibrating in his bones and inner ear, buzzing his spinal cord and making him feel dizzy as spots peppered his eyes. The whole process felt like a recurring blood rush. Finally, it ended, and to Stitch, it felt as though it had just started. The massaging tremor and heat beneath his feet subsided, and Jumba and Lilo popped out of the ship.

"Aha! Six minutes, forty-seven seconds. New record!" He bowed, as if he'd won three Nobel prizes, while Lilo clapped her hands. "Now, 626, you may step off the scanning pad." Stitch did as he was told as Jumba walked to the computer and examined it. "Now, let us see if we can find anything out of place with your normal status, 626." He ticked away at some data, murmuring to himself as he scanned through the data. "Nothing wrong here...no change in brainwaves...no psychological malfunctions...computer systems show normal and..." He paused. Lilo sensed a feeling of curiosity come over Jumba.

"What is it?" She asked, after the silence passed for a moment.

"Is very curious...it seems that 626 has gained an incredible amount of strength in his physical—and some mental—aspects, but this change has taken place over a short period of time...almost instantly..."

"Meaning?" Stitch urged Jumba to explain more simply.

"Meaning, for example, your agility has increased three-fold literally overnight. This is very interesting and unusual."

"Werewolf!" Stitch exclaimed, pointing to the computer as if it proved his words.

"Don't be so sure 626. That is _one _possibility. There are other factors too...you may have gone through something of a 'growth spurt' so to speak. Though it has not happened to any of my other ingenious experiments, I had always wondered if they grew a small amount as they aged...sort of like earth-child. According to Pleakley that is..."

"So...in other words, there's no way to actually tell?" Lilo asked.

"Scientifically; no. I have done all I can, but I will say this; if what Stitch claims is true, and he was bitten by strange semi-parasitic mythological earth-creature, then it is quite possible he may have gained some enhanced abilities."

"Well, thanks for your help."

"Do not be mentioning." Jumba said humbly. "Am glad to assist. Besides," he lowered his voice and put an arm to his face to whisper to Lilo, "was needing excuse to get away from boring measurement-taking practices for to be made a costume. Is very aggravating at times, no?" With that he chuckled to himself and unhooked his computer, walking up the stairs to the house and slamming the door behind him.

"Well that got us nowhere..." Lilo sighed.

"Yeah." Stitch nodded.

"You still think you're a werewolf?" She asked without any direct emotion behind her voice.

"Yeah." He replied, nodding his head again.

"Well, we'll definitely find out tonight; there's another full moon. Until then, will you help me carve the pumpkin?"

"Suga." He replied. And they both walked to the back of the house, as if nothing peculiar had happened at all.


	7. Scar

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 7: Scar

October 31; 7:14 PM; Playing Chess in the kitchen

"Checkmate!" Lilo cried in triumph, "Beat ya again!" Stitch stared, puzzled, at the checkerboard; the chess pieces scattered across the blue and white squares. Lilo nodded, awaiting his approval that she had beaten him, and took joy at seeing his gaping eyes scanning the pieces, making sure she didn't cheat or sneak a move in; which she didn't.

"Ju shata-"

"Don't say anything, I won fair and square." Lilo snapped, knowing he was going to say something along the lines as 'you're cheating'. Stitch grumbled and lifted his nose, snuffling loudly. "Sore loser." Lilo said, sticking out her tongue. "Help me put it away, I'm getting bored of board games."

"Oketaka." Stitch said, as he gathered up the pieces he and Lilo had each conquered from each other and put them in the plastic bag, wherein they dumped the rest and closed the box, stacking it atop four more games they had used to pass the hours that seemed to crawl against their favor.

"What do we do now?" Lilo asked, as Nani came into the kitchen.

"Naga chishiba." Stitch said, shrugging.

"Looking for something to do?" Nani asked rhetorically. Lilo turned and nodded. "You two can carve the pumpkin for me. I'm running late on making dinner, and it would be a big help. Besides, you're going to enter it in the Aloha competition aren't you?"

"Of course; we do it every year. Except...that one time when I tried to light a firework for a candle..." Lilo trailed.

"At least you apologized to that nice couple for nearly burning down their house." Nani commented, leaving the kitchen after grabbing her keys. "I'll be back in a bout an hour, no horseplay or destruction until I get back." With that the door slammed shut.

"Look's like we're on pumpkin duty." Lilo smirked. Quickly she ran to a drawer on the far side and opened it up, rummaging through its contents, tossing out the occasional item in her search. "Aha! Here's one." She exclaimed, pulling out a sharp knife. Stitch immediately had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Um...Lilo, ju suga akota-ka michi..."

"Yes, I'm sure its ok. Nani said it's up to us right? And we need a knife right?"

"E...eh..."

"So...let's go." She uttered, motioning for Stitch to follow her. He adjusted the stack of board games so it wouldn't fall, grabbed a bowl of the table, and leapt out of the chair to follow her as she exited through the back door. Their pumpkin lay, bathing in the sunlight. Bleached, like Nani had wanted, it's vivid orange color was now softened and slightly fuzzy looking. Like a giant peach rather than a pumpkin. "Ok, hold it for me, would you?" Lilo asked, stepping to one side of the ball. Stitch placed the bowl on the ground and went to the opposite side of Lilo, and clasped his hands around the pumpkin, keeping far away from the sharp object in the little girl's grasp.

Lilo pointed the knife toward the black line Nani had drawn earlier, and plunged the blade in with a satisfying _shluck_. She drove it down to the base, and gripped her hand around the protruding handle, and tugged hard. The knife refused to come loose.

"Lilo..." Stitch muttered, "Isa naga padooka..."

"It's just..." She grunted, trying to pull up again, "Stuck!"

"Here." Stitch said, easing his hand toward the handle, offering to get it out for her.

"No, I can do it, it's just stubborn." She grunted, rapidly tugging on the immobile object. Stitch began to feel uneasy, no matter what happened that knife was going to hurt one of them if she pulled it out with as much aggression she was using, and Stitch wasn't about to let that happen. "Hey! Stop!" Lilo yelled, as Stitch reached his hand on hers and tried to wrestle her grip free. That only made her tug harder, and they began to fight for control of the knife in the pumpkin.

The knife began to give way, and slipped free of the orange stone's clasp. Lilo flew back and landed on her rear, but not before she heard Stitch's cry of pain. Lilo's heart skipped a beat and her spine flooded with cold water as she heard a sickening _slock _come from Stitch. He clasped his arm; his hand wrapped around his bicep, and his mouth let loose tiny grunts of pain.

"Oh man," Lilo panicked, "Stitch are you ok?" His eyes winced several times before he looked away from his hand, a speck of blood leaked down his arm.

"Isa...nagitcha..."

"Let me see, maybe we can treat it." She put a hand on his, and he leaned back into a sit. Reluctantly, she let him pry his hand from his wound. Lilo breathed in through gritted teeth as she peered at his arm. "Looks, kind of ok..." she muttered, "hold on, wait a second..." Stitch heard a tone of curiosity in her voice. "No way..." She exclaimed, "There's no way..."

"Gaba?" Stitch asked, shifted his head to look at his wound. She parted his fur for him to see, and it took him a moment to understand what she was so amazed about. Blood smeared across his fur, and began to get denser as he found where his wound was, and was also confused at what he saw. There, where the knife had clearly penetrated his skin, was a fresh, pink, scar, as if it had just healed. Lilo ran her finger across it to make sure, and found that it indeed was healed.

Without a word she turned to find the knife, it lay on the grass, parallel to the ground. Lilo picked it up and looked at the blade. Of the six inches of steel, two and a half were red with blood; the knife didn't just brush past Stitch, it looked as though it went into him much deeper.

"This has never happened before...I mean, I've never seen you heal almost _instantly _before." She said; passing him by with the knife held safely away from them in her hands. Stitch was busy still gawking at the scar that shouldn't have been, and the hole in his skin that wasn't there. There _was _something unnatural about it, and again Stitch thought of the night where he had gotten bit. It occurred to him that _that _wound had also seemed to miraculously heal, except he didn't know how long it took. Was it the same instance? It was certainly the same place, the knife had almost exactly traced across the fang marks that Stitch remembered.

"C'mon, we'll finish this later, I want to talk to Jumba." Lilo said, looking off into the distance. The sun was almost past the horizon, a strip of orange lined the base of the sky, and the rest of the dome was an open canvas of cyan and aqua.

"Eh." Stitch agreed, and opened the door for Lilo to pass. She carefully cleaned the knife while he carefully cleaned his wound; which by now had stopped hearting altogether. Once done, he ran ahead to Jumba's room, Lilo came in to. "Lilo wants to talk to Jumba." He said, as he entered the open door.

"Yes, little girl?" Jumba asked, as Lilo came in slightly out of breath.

"Jumba, I have something to show you." She said, taking Stitch over to him. He stepped down from the rise, putting the oversized sheet that was his Halloween costume on the sewing table. "Look at his arm, right here," she pointed.

"Hm...looks like 626 has gotten big boo-boo." Jumba said. "It looks fine to me, if you're worried about the scar; no problem. Scars are natural after a few weeks of healing."

"That's what I wanted to show you, this _didn't _heal for weeks, it healed over _seconds_." Jumba put a hand to his chin, looking perplexed. "Stitch got cut with a knife, really deep, and when I looked at it, this scar was there. It happened just a little while ago. Does Stitch have some sort of fast-healing power too?"

"Well," Jumba thought scratching his chin, "not exactly. Is probability that 626 has faster recovery rate than little girl and Jumba. But, is impossible for anything to heal in _seconds, _as you have described." He eyed it closer, scrutinizing it with all four eyes. "Unless..." He began again, leaning away. "Unless that "growth spurt" we have discovered earlier has somehow had a play it...I'd say this occurrence was completely...unnatural. But, even _with _growth spurt, I am not thinking 626 would be able to heal a wound that quickly. How deep was the cut?" He asked, peering close at the wound again.

"I don't know...kind of deep..."

"Chicha zabitsuta." Stitch said, using to fingers to illustrate the size. "This big."

"What on planet's crust were you two _doing _with a knife in the first place? Don't you know little girl and highly dangerous destructive genetic experiment, plus highly dangerous and destructive sharp object, equals nothing but disaster?" He yelled, taking an authority. Lilo looked down at her feet.

"We were just trying to carve a pumpkin..." She trailed. Jumba chuckled.

"Leave it up to little girl and 626 to turn earth-custom into chaos." Lilo smiled, and Stitch laughed as well. Apparently Jumba hadn't been too angry with them after all, which was hard to say otherwise for Nani, whom was now pulling up to the house.

"Maybe if we're lucky, she won't find out..." Lilo whispered.

"Oh, big sister will be finding out. Am reporting bad behavior, but...will be waiting until after Halloween. Ok?" He winked.

"Thanks Jumba, but she'll find out anyway before you tell her. She always finds out things one way or another."

"This is true." He said matter-of-factly. "Well, I must be getting ready. Pleakley is going to be adjusting my costume, before we celebrate earth custom." Jumba said, ushering Lilo and Stitch out the door. "Be seeing you later tonight." He said, and the door shut quietly. Lilo looked at Stitch for a moment, and then at his wound. She sighed, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head with realization.

"Maybe...you _are _a werewolf..."


	8. Full Moon

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 8: Full Moon

October 31; 7:53 PM; Getting ready for Halloween

"Just a few more things and you're done, Lilo." Nani said, picking up a small tube of makeup that came with the costume Lilo had bought. She squeezed the tube of red face paint and brushed it on her cheeks, and did the same with blue, to make parallel lines going from her nose to her ears, slanted slightly toward her eyes. "There, I think that's the last of it." Nani spoke, closing the tubes and brushing her hands free of powder. She took a step back to examine Lilo's entire outfit. "Wow...I'm impressed kiddo. You chose a good one this year."

"Thanks." Lilo giggled, as Nani patted her head.

"Go show Stitch, and then tell him to come in here. He's going to be a werewolf this year?" Nani asked, making sure she knew what he was.

"Yeah, a werewolf." Lilo replied, opening the bathroom door. She closed it behind her as Nani was getting out a different set of paint, and washing her hands in the bathroom sink.

Stitch sat on the couch, reading his new black book. He sifted through the pages, not really reading, not really thinking. He had read a bit of information. He read over how to cure the illness of being a werewolf, how to catch it, etc. But he was more interested in what Lilo was this year, as she had still made a big deal about it being a surprise.

"Stitch, where are you?" He heard Lilo's voice upstairs. "My costume's all ready." He shut the book immediately and laid it on the couch. He hopped to the floor and popped his back, and eagerly ran up the stairs. "Stitch, wher-"Lilo turned out from the door she was peeking in and saw him in the hallway. "_There _you are. This is my costume, you like it?" She asked, posing.

If Stitch didn't know better, he wouldn't even recognize Lilo at all. Her face seemed somewhat glossier, and her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, those were the first things he noticed. Then he noticed the blue and red lines of paint on her cheeks. Her clothes were long pants, and a shirt to match, a design on the ends of the sleeves, near the bottom of the shirt, and near the ends of the leggings decorated the outer rim of her clothing. On her feet were moccasins, in her hand was a small toy bow, on her back was quiver full of suction-cup tipped arrows, and on her head was a single band, with a feather at the front.

"Gabitcha ju-keepa?"

"You silly, I'm a Cherokee." She laughed.

"Cheokah?" He tried to repeat.

'No. Cher-o-kee. A Cherokee is an Indian that lives in a tepee, it's like a tent, only really tall and pointy." She said raising her hand high in the air to illustrate.

"Oh...Stitch like." He said, nodding his head approvingly.

"Thanks, I knew you would." She said excitedly, running up and giving him a hug. "Nani wants to see you, make you look more like a werewolf. She's in the bathroom. Meet me downstairs when you're done." She hollered, now running down the stairs. Stitch shrugged and walked to the bathroom, where Nani had a paintbrush in-hand.

_"It's not like Nani needs to make him look like a werewolf. So far, I'm starting to believe he is one. And if he is, we won't have to be worrying about makeup..." _Lilo thought, as she ran down the stairs. She passed the pumpkin they had carved; Stitch used his claws which made it much easier and faster, since they were in a hurry to get to the Aloha Halloween Luau. The upside-down jack-o'-lantern gawked at her with a flickering light. (Stitch had accidentally carved it upside down, which is why it was the way it was.)

She sighed, walking to the couch. The moccasins hurt her feet a little bit; they were stiff and leathery, and made it feel like she was walking in blocks of wood rather than comfortable slippers. She sat down and took them off for the time being, laying them on aside on the floor. She brushed her hair to the side and laid down on the couch, to wait for Stitch.

"Ow!" She grunted, as something sharp stabbed her in the back. She sat up and ran her hand across the couch, to find Stitch's book hidden between the cushions. "Huh. Wonder what he's trying to find in this old thing." She said to no one, opening the book and flipping through its pages. She couldn't read much of it, but some symbols she did recognize. Usually in Jumba's books she had a picture to go along with what was being said, but now there were just pages and pages of words that she saw only as abstract calligraphy. Lilo heard the fumbling noise of feet coming down the stairs, and she quickly shut the book and placed it back on the couch. Stitch tumbled down the stairs, barely keeping his footing, and roared airily as he hit the bottom on all fours.

"Stitch already looks so much like a dog," Nani said, as she followed Stitch down and brushed him aside when she got the bottom, "I didn't exactly know what to do with him. The only thing I could think of was painting his nose black." She motioned at the one alteration Stitch had, his black nose. It seemed oddly different, but other than that he was the same.

"At least it's something." Lilo said optimistically. Stitch grinned, and stood on two feet. "Ok, we're ready to go." Lilo said, following Nani into the kitchen. Stitch ran to the couch and picked up his book, then scurried into the kitchen with them.

"Are you two taking the pumpkin too?" Nani asked; giving them each a pillowcase reserved for candy. Stitch began to sniff and explore his as Nani and Lilo continued on their conversation.

"I guess we could, though we never win the competition." Lilo replied lowly.

"Don't let that get to you, it's just a competition. If you lose, that doesn't mean you didn't do a good job." Nani cooed, as she leaned over and petted her sister's head.

"I know, I know. C'mon Stitch, we'd better get going or we'll be late." Lilo said, taking his bag as he gave it to her and stepped over to the pumpkin to carry it.

"Oh, and Lilo." Nani began, as they walked to the front door.

"Yeah?"

"There's going to be an eclipse out tonight. The sky will be dark for a few minutes, and I don't want you and Stitch wondering around without any moonlight. There are some crazy people that out at Halloween, so stay close to your friends ok?"

"Ok. Later Nani."

"Bye." Nani replied, giving Lilo a blow-kiss. The sky was already dark, the sun had passed to the other side of the earth, and the stars were twinkling in the sky. The moon hung low over the horizon, its body full and its light bright in the navy sky.

"Just in case you are a werewolf, I recommend not looking up." Lilo said, pointing at the moon. Stitch's eyes quickly spotted the behemoth in the sky, and then flinched down to the ground, making sure it was out of his peripheral vision as well. "I don't think you'll have to worry though. I'll keep an eye on you."

"Oketaka." He replied graciously. He lifted the pumpkin onto his head, and continued to follow behind Lilo, admiring her costume. She slung the bow over her shoulder and around her body, opposite the quiver of fake arrows. Aside from the occasional noise of the night, they walked in silence. Lilo thought about all the candy they would get, while Stitch thought about not looking at the moon.

"Oh no..." Lilo paused, lifting up her feet. "I forgot my moccasins."

"Naga shibita." Stitch said, "Lilo look better without."

"You think so?"

"Oh yeah." He said reassuringly. She smiled at him, and continued to lead the way. As they arrived, lights began to illuminate the surrounding area. A yellow glow came from around the area. But there was something wrong; there was hardly any noise. Usually the Aloha hut was ablaze with music and commotion, _especially _on Halloween night.

"Huh?" Lilo stopped her pace abruptly. Stitch bumped into her and stumbled back, trying not to drop the pumpkin on the floor.

"Soka." He said, stepping to Lilo's side.

"It's ok...look." She pointed to the Aloha hut. Stitch's eyes reflected red and blue flashing lights as he eyed the three police cars parked near the building. As they ran closer to the odd scene, the two realized that the hut was bent out of shape. The door was completely off its hinges, the staircase was splintered, and a window was broken. "You go find a place to put that pumpkin, I'm going to see what's going on." Lilo said, a bit of agitation in her voice.

"Eh." Stitch confirmed, as he hosted his pumpkin to get a better grip on it. He wondered to the right where a group of people gathered; Myrtle, her friends, and a few other kids were crowded around outside, playing a game of tag. Lilo ran with a steady stride to the door of the hut, ran up the broken staircase and peered in the doorway. Moses stood in the middle of the room, talking to a uniformed police officer.

"This is just a confirmation; you say you don't know who or what did-"

"Moses! Moses, what happened?" Lilo panted, running into the building. The inside was completely trashed; broken objects littered the area, and a familiar site caught Lilo's eyes. Claw marks.

"Lilo, this isn't the time, go out and play with the other girls-"

"Excuse me ma'am," the officer said, turning toward Lilo, "I'm sorry to say this but something's happened here and we have to figure out what. Us adults need to talk for a minute, but there's some kids outside if you would be so kind as to-"

"But...wait," Lilo said, trying to politely interrupt, "this looks similar to something that happened at my house, it's almost the exact same thing." The officer's face changed behind his sunglasses.

"You say something like this," he motioned toward the destruction, "has happened to your home?"

"Well, something _close _to it anyway..." Lilo said, looking around. "It wasn't as bad as this...but I recognize those claw marks."

"Do you think you might know what caused this-?"

"I believe I can answer that." Came a voice from the door. A man stepped in to the room, which Lilo recognized as the hotel owner. "I was around the area when this place was being destroyed, and I think I might know what caused it."

"Alright, out with it." The cop said. "Tell me all you know."

"I can't say exactly, but it was some sort of animal. It was large, and had a long tail. Looked more like a big dog to me, but-"The three people in the room turned toward the door as a scream burst from outside. Lilo recognized it as Myrtle's, and was the first to run outside.

"Lilo, _why _did you bring your dog with you? It just went crazy and tried to attack me!" She yelled, as she saw Lilo come out of the building.

"You have a dog, ma'am?" The officer said, directing his attention toward Lilo.

"Yes...b-but, he didn't cause this, honest. I was with him when he and I came here." The officer nodded and turned toward Moses, asking more questions that Lilo didn't hear. "Where did Stitch go?" Lilo asked Myrtle, who was backing away as if Lilo was infected with some sort of disease.

"He went that way, and if you're smart, you'll go that way too." She snarled, pointing off back where Lilo and Stitch had first come. Lilo leered at Myrtle, and flexed a fist, but then dropped it. With a sigh she took off running back toward the direction Marital had pointed. Lilo ran for minutes down the road where she had come, and soon was forced to take a quick walk. She kept her eyes and ears out for anything suspicious—and twirled around as she heard a noise behind her.

"Stitch?" She called immediately, looking off to the side of the path. A low wind blew, but that didn't cover the rustling of something galloping through the brush that lead off into the woods. "Stitch?" Lilo called again, chasing after the rustle. She stopped as she saw something all too familiar; across the grass far in front of her a silhouette passed quickly, almost blurrily. She recognized it from last night, when Stitch had leaped through the skylight of their bedroom. Except now she got a better view of it; it wasn't short and stubby like her fiend. It was large, long, had a snout, and a tail that flowed briskly behind it as it darted into the brush to her left. "Stitch!" She yelled, chasing after him.


	9. Eclipse

The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 9: Eclipse

--October 31; 8:22 PM; in the woods near the Palekai house.

The night was slightly cool, with a gentle breeze that daintily heaved the trees in its direction; brought the smell of a cooking meal in its wake; and fluttered the grass, making the blades waft gently and brilliantly against its careful touch. They sky, dotted with stars, vast, and yet filled with white-blue clouds that ran a marathon across the open canvas. The moon sat as an overseer, watching the still night and casting its light down upon the earth for all to watch along with it. Sadly, in a place of such beauty, an ill feeling was in the air.

Lilo's lungs burned and her head felt dizzy as she ran across the grass, trying to listen for where Stitch was. His whereabouts only given away when there was a rustle in the distance, and then Lilo would once again have to run. She had lost the will to call his name; she'd tried to before, but he was either ignoring her, or didn't recognize her voice.

It seemed as though he was running away from her, and at the same time, like he was stalking her. She was lead in random directions, mainly through trees and bushes, or into the fields of grass that were sometimes almost as tall as Lilo herself. Another rustle, to her left, she immediately followed. His shadow leapt through a thicket of bushes, where Lilo leapt through as well.

However, she was suddenly pulled back, and she felt a tight pressure against her chest and neck. She glanced behind her, and saw that the bow protruding from her back was caught on a branch. She spent almost half a minute trying to untangle herself, making a commotion of trembling leaves and groans of force as she used all of her flexibility to slip out of the trap. The wire of the bow made the skin on her neck raw in doing so, but she was finally free, and held the bow in her hand in case it might get caught again; all of the toy arrows were gone.

She listened. The only sound louder than the wind was her beating heart, as the arteries in her neck flared and pulsed with vigor. She was in an open field, the moon cast more than enough light to see by. Nothing moved; no noise, no rustle, no Stitch. She had lost him. But that didn't mean he couldn't be found again. Lightly she took a step forward, the grass crunched and crackled under her cold, bare feet. Though it wasn't all that cold, her feet and toes were numb from running. She took another step, and the grass shouted loudly against the silence.

_"Is he still here?" _She thought, scanning the knee-high sea of green blades that stabbed and irritated her legs with their tiny tips. _"Is he waiting for me? Or is he gone?" _She saw no sign of him, but felt as though he was watcher her from somewhere. She looked behind her—no one. She continued on, her veins now pulsing with suspense, ready to blow like a fuse connected to a bomb.

"Ha!" Lilo's eyes shot open, her vision cleared and her mind snapped back to attention. Hair on her body stood on end as she heard a fierce scream of energy that sounded more like declaration of death. She turned around swiftly to see Stitch, a blur in mid-jump, arcing toward her. He was at mid-arc, and like a think possessed, instinctively Lilo stepped to the right, and gripped her hand around the bow that she held. Deftly and quickly she retaliated on Stitch, he could do nothing to stop her.

As he came in to the spot where Lilo used to be, she raised the bow high above her head and readied herself. The air whistled, and a loud _crack _echoed across the grass, as the bow made contact with the werewolf. Stitch tumbled to the side, a trail of dust lifted up from him on contact, and he lay motionless for a moment.

Lilo had suddenly realized what she'd done, as she stared down at the splinter of wood in her hands. She let go of it, and looked ahead of her, as Stitch weakly lifted himself off the ground. If there was any doubt in her mind that Stitch wasn't a werewolf, it was gone now. On the body of the beast, on the upper-left arm, near the shoulder, was a distinct, visible scar; which illuminated in Lilo's eyes, as if taunting her.

"No," She said, as she watched her friend stagger to a stand. "This can't be..." Along Stitch's body, where the bow had struck, there formed a dark purple streak. It ran from his twitching eye, all the way down to his side. Lilo felt a ping of sadness as she saw her friend give her a deceived expression. Werewolf or not, she shouldn't have attacked him.

"I-I'm sorry." She apologized, taking a step forward. A low whimper came from Stitch's snout, and he backed away a step, barely able to keep balanced on three legs. The leg with the scar, and now a bruise overlapping it, had an exaggerated limp. "No, it's ok." Lilo cooed, putting her hands up in front of her, "I'm not going to hurt you." She stepped forward again, and he stepped back, letting out another whimper, and a yelp as he stepped on his wounded leg. She cringed at his noises, not able to stand them. Their high pitches were painful and sad, two feelings that she had given him when she attacked him with her bow.

Stitch whimpered again, turning his back toward her, and quietly he left, his tail between his legs. Lilo dropped her arms and fell to her knees. This was twice now she had injured Stitch, and now she realized; _"What if Stitch wasn't meaning to attack me? What if it...was just some sort of playful thing?" _His doggish expression was still stenciled into her mind; he gazed at her as if he'd suddenly been deceived by her, and couldn't accept it.

"...Stitch?" Lilo whispered, wiping a tear from her eye. She had heard another rustle in the grass, somewhere near her. "Stitch, is that you?" There wasn't a response, with the exception of more violent sounding rustles. Something was skulking quickly through the grass, making sure to keep from Lilo's sights.

She stood to her feet, uneasy. Whoever this was, this wasn't Stitch; she heard four footsteps, when Stitch only had _three _unharmed legs. A surge of panic raced down her back as she heard a growl come from behind her. _"Another one!" _She thought, immediately bolting off. _"There are _two _out here!" _

Again her lungs burned and her head felt dizzy, the feeling in her legs was lost. But as much and as fast as she ran, she could still hear her prowler behind her, _close _behind her. She knew it was going to attack her, and she knew it was going to do it soon, and she knew that she wished she had her bow again.

Lilo grunted with pain as she stubbed her toe on a small rock that hooked over the ground, and then hissed with more pain as her heel twisted and her balance was thrown to the right. Her ankle throbbed as she tumbled to the ground. She couldn't run anymore. The only thing she could do was turn around, and watch as another werewolf—this one with yellow fur and flaring red nostrils—leap into the air, ready to turn her into one of them.

Lilo couldn't bear to watch, she closed her eyes and tucked her head in, waiting for the inevitable pain of the bite; trying to predict when it was going to happen, so that she could do something to prevent the pain. But, behind her, she heard another rustle in the grass, and heard two sharp barks bellow from behind her, and felt a rush of wind as something jumped over her head.

Her eyes snapped open. She knew exactly what had happened before she even saw it. She looked up just in time to see Stitch grip his fangs on the other wolf's neck—not piercing its skin—and twirled his mass around to fling the yellow wolf to the ground. It landed with several yips and whines, and scrambled to its feet, bolting off in the other direction.

Stitch looked out for a moment, at the direction of where the other wolf was going, and snorted lowly. Then, slowly, he turned his gaze to Lilo; his eyes pierced hers, and she suddenly felt a rush of tears coming on. He dawned the same deceived expression before; only this time, he didn't whimper or whine. His leg had lost its limp; Lilo suspected that the same phenomenon of healing had happened again to him.

"Will you run?" She managed to say, standing up to her feet. "Are you still mad at me?" Stitch let out a low groan, and lowered his body closer to the ground; his paws were at the side of his head, which was now resting on the dirt. "I'm not going to hurt you," she reiterated, "I promise." Slowly, she took another step forward. He flinched, but did nothing else. She paused a moment, and took another step, then another, and another. Finally, she was an arm's reach away from him.

"I'm really sorry," she said again, kneeling down to pet him. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and squished his head closer to the ground as Lilo made contact on his scalp. But, slowly, he began to relax, and open his eyes again. Lilo felt his trust return as his expression changed, only slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Stitch groaned again, which was all Lilo expected he could do.

She sat down on the grass and leaned back, and Stitch put his head on her shoulder. She chuckled, and stroked his side; his shaggy fur was littered with clumps of dirt and grass. She sighed happily; Stitch wasn't an evil werewolf like she imagined. _"In fact," _She opened her eyes again to look down at his face in the dark light, _"he looks kind of cool." _She moved her hand to stroke his face, and he licked her palm as she passed over his muzzle.

"You silly Stitch." She said, standing up and limping forward a few paces. She heard Stitch stand as well, but didn't hear him pace with her. "The moon's almost gone. Only a tiny sliver left..." She whispered, as the shadow inched closer to the side of the moon. Soon the sliver was gone, and the sky was dark, along with the ground. "Well, there it is. I suppose I kind of went against what Nani said about staying out in the dark...huh?" She said to Stitch.

Behind her, she heard a strange noise. Almost like the wind had just plundered by, but there wasn't even a breeze in the air. She turned around, and tried to see what happened. She heard footsteps; Stitch was walking toward her.

"L...Lilo?" He asked, a quaver in his voice. "Lilo?" He asked louder.

"Relax, Stitch," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm right here."

"What happened? Stitch remembers...looking at moon...then...nothing."

"Well," she said, thinking where to start, "you were right. You _are _a werewolf." She paused, but Stitch said nothing. She took a breath, and then continued. "You changed after you looked at the moon—I guess—and then I had to chase you here. You tried to attack me bu-"

"Naga..." He said with disbelief. "Ju okishta?"

"Yes," she replied sweetly, "I'm fine. You _tried _to attack me...but I turned out to be the one attacking. I hit you with my bow, and hurt you really bad."

"Stitch naga hurt now..." He said, feeling his cheek.

"I think your werewolf powers make you heal quickly..."

"Oh." He said, his voice sounded disdained. "But, shooka. If Stitch is werewolf, why isn't Stitch werewolf now?" Lilo twitched her eyebrow.

"I...I don't know..." She looked around, and then back at the moon, still covered in shadow. "Maybe the eclipse had something to do with it."

"Better hurry." Stitch said, "Before comes back." He took Lilo's arm and tried to take off, but she held him back.

"Relax Stitch. You won't hurt anyone as a werewolf." Even in the darkness, she could see the curious look on Stitch's face, and the twitch in his ear, as he tried to understand what she meant. "I mean, even if you do transform into a werewolf...you're still my Stitch. And_ my _Stitch wouldn't hurt a fly." She heard Stitch laugh bashfully. If she could see, she'd probably see a blush on his face. "Can you help me walk? I twisted my ankle while running."

"Suga." He replied, stepping to her side. Stitch sniffed the air. "Home this way." He said, lading Lilo to her left. As they walked, the moon slowly peeked out from behind the dark, and Stitch was glad it was behind them.

"You know," Lilo began, "when I twisted my ankle, I was being chased by another werewolf. I imagine that's the one you said that bit you...but I wonder..."

"Gaba?"

"I wonder...who _that _werewolf was..."

--October 31; 9:01 PM; Grass field.

"Ugh...my aching head." Groaned a voice as the source of it lifted a hand to its head. "Either I got hit with five-hundred pounds of bologna...or I just got into a fight with my cousin and lost..." 625 groaned again as he stood to his feet. "Where am I exactly? ...Last thing I remember...I was staring at the moon and eating a grilled cheese..." He scratched his head. "Uh...I can't think right now...I'm too hungry." With that he trotted through the woods, as he found his way home.

Atichura

(The end)

Ko-_sa_ isa?

(Or _is _it?)


End file.
